ELECTION 2010 Rotondi: elect an everyman

Tuesday

Sep 28, 2010 at 12:01 AMSep 28, 2010 at 1:08 AM

Editor’s note: This is one in a three-part series of profiles featuring the candidates for the 31st Middlesex District state representative seat. Click on the links at the right to read profiles of the other two candidates.

Brad Petrishen

Editor’s note: This is one in a three-part series of profiles featuring the candidates for the 31st Middlesex District state representative seat. Click on the links at the right to read profiles of the other two candidates.

Though he’s been elected as the town’s moderator for 17 years, lifelong Stoneham resident and candidate for state representative, Michael Rotondi, doesn’t think of himself as a “politician.”

“Most of my political life I’ve been an independent, like most voters,” said Rotondi, who, after losing to Jason Lewis in the Democratic primary in 2008, has decided to challenge the incumbent as well as Republican George Georgountzos as an Independent candidate this November.

“I’m a moderate, and I feel most comfortable as an Independent because sometimes I think an idea is good on one side and sometimes I think an idea is good on the other side,” he said. “Really, the goal here is to fairly and objectively represent the district with passion, and without being influenced by party politics.”

Now 40, Rotondi began his political career when he decided to make a run at the town moderator seat fresh out of college in 1993.

“It was about serving local government and applying what I learned in political science at Wheaton College,” he said. “I figured I might as well get involved. How else are you supposed to learn about the experiences, the issues and the things that the common people are experiencing in the town?”

Over the past two decades, Rotondi said he’s practiced the art of objectivity, for, although his job requires great knowledge and passion about affairs of the town, it also requires restraint so as not to influence voters.

“A lot of people have come up to me over the years and said, ‘Mike, I really don’t know where you stand on a particular issue,’” he said smiling. “And I say, ‘Good.’”

Rotondi, who describes himself as socially and economically moderate, said this ability to objectively look at the facts suits him well as an Independent and makes him the most qualified candidate.

“If I’m an independent and I’m a moderate voter, both sides will be fighting for my vote,” he said.

“Part of the problem is that the incumbent is, right out of the gate, in lock step with the political establishment,” he added, referring to Rep. Jason Lewis’ vote to increase taxes. “I think people are tired of that.”

Local experience

Rotondi believes the key difference between him and the other candidates is his experience in local politics as well as his ability to relate to voters.

“Out of all the candidates, I really have that grassroots, in the trenches experience,” he said, noting that neither Lewis nor Georgountzos have extensive resumes in local politics.

“The key piece missing … is that they’ve made really no substantive contribution at the local level,” he said. “My focus is going to be at the district solely, because that’s my background and my experience.”

Rotondi said he believes Lewis and other party politicians have spent too much time weighing in on national debates and not enough time focusing on their own districts.

“Being a state representative is not about staying at the 35,000-foot level talking about grandiose national healthcare policies,” he said. “It’s about, ‘We need more money for police and fire, the sidewalks need to be repaired, there’s potholes in the road.’

“It’s get-your-hands-dirty-in-the-trench stuff.”

Rotondi emphasized his belief that he is on the front lines with the voters.

“I have felt the pain of this economy and seen the frustration at the level firsthand,” he said. “Right here, not down at the State House … but right here, and that’s what I take to the State House.

“I’m in the same boat as a lot of people — I’m hurting economically and frustrated with limited resources in local government,” said Rotondi, who is currently looking for work after his small home renovation business suffered with the economy.

Rotondi holds a master’s degree from Tufts University in urban environmental policy and planning, and said he’s currently looking at different positions in a number of fields.

“The job market has been tough,” he said. “I don’t know how you can have someone represent those issues better than someone who’s actually experiencing them.”

Ahead of the curve

Rotondi said he believes some of his ideas during his last campaign would have saved the state from having to institute a tax increase to cover its revenue shortfall.

“Two years ago I proposed an economic development plan … to limit state spending across the board by 1 percent and optimize efficiencies in state government,” he said, noting that he had the idea before the recession began in September 2008.

“If we had implemented those cost-saving measures two years ago, we would have had additional revenues that we could have contributed to local aid, to education funding and to some property tax relief,” he said. “That effort would have been ahead of the curve.”

Rotondi said he would not have raised taxes in a down economy. A crucial part of his plan, he said, was rooting out inefficiency in local and state government agencies.

“Because I have the local experience and some state experience, I know where some of those efficiencies can be made and I have the passion to go after them,” he said. “There’s a lot of waste, fraud and abuse and I have had experience fighting that.”

Controversy

Rotondi himself was accused of wrongdoing as town moderator in May 2003 when he sought and received a $5 pay increase — from $200 to $205 — at Town Meeting in order to qualify for enrollment in the town’s pension system.

The State Ethics Commission ruled that, in addition to improperly presiding over a meeting in which he had financial interest, Rotondi did not explain the reasoning behind the $5 increase to Town Meeting voters — a move that sparked residents to quickly call another Town Meeting and rescinded the $5 by the necessary two-thirds vote.

Rotondi, who was fined $2,000, but faced no future discipline in exchange for agreeing with the commission’s findings and forfeiting his right to appeal, said his mistake was not the result of malfeasance.

“There was some confusion around that,” he said. “It was an issue that I should have been aware of at the time. I didn’t realize it.”

“There are a lot more educational programs now to help people be sensitive to those ideas,” he said, adding that he has put the incident behind him and wants to focus on fighting hard for reform.

Rotondi, who recently married and is planning on raising a family in Stoneham, said his lifelong investment in the community and economic struggles set him apart from his opponents.

“Wouldn’t it be fantastic and unique to send a working-class, hometown candidate to the state Legislature, sending a message of reform and new energy and not party politics?” he said. “That would be something.”